Daily Prayer for August 3
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:9–12, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that we may be your children. We thank you for giving us your Spirit so that we may truly be your children. Gather us into community with you so that our minds and hearts and all that is in us may realize what joy can come to us through your gifts. Though the world today is in turmoil, in doubt, lost in material things, grant us inner quiet to receive from you the power of faith. For through faith we can learn to know what you are and what you will be to all humankind one day, through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Recent articles on Plough A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now
Today’s Verse – Romans 8:2
[T]hrough Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. —Romans 8:2 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Praise God! Jesus delivered us from the principle of law-keeping as the way to prove our righteousness and earn our salvation. We are now enabled to live out the will of God in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit, who conforms us (Romans 8:28-29) and transforms us (2 Corinthians 3:18) to become like Christ, who is the fulfillment of the law (Matthew 5:17). We are saved by grace, through faith, so we can do good deeds out of thankfulness to honor our Savior just as God planned long ago for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). Video Commentary… ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Videos My Prayer… Thank you, dear Father, for your grace and mercy. I praise you, God Almighty, for your incredible sacrifice to bring my pardon. Glory and honor to you, O Sovereign LORD, for your gift of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me in your will and transform me into a person of your character, like Jesus Christ. In his name, I thank you. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Were!
Note from Jesus Dear Holy One, You confessed Me as your Lord and called on My name as your Savior (Romans 10:9-13). You were joined with Me in My death, burial, and resurrection through your baptism (Romans 6:3-8). You were cleansed and made perfectly holy (Colossians 1:21-23) through the work of the Holy Spirit. As Paul tells the Corinthians, [Y]ou have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God. There are things you once WERE because of your evil and sinful behavior, but you are not those things any longer. Those things should not be part of your life now. Even if you were raised in a Christian family and have tried to live for Me all of your life, you know that there was and is sin in your life. In your conversion and cleansing, you were united with Me. We became one, and My righteousness was given to you. You are now part of Me and a vital part of My Body, the church. So what you do with your body and in your body impacts and involves Me. Sexual immorality — and by that, I mean any sexual relationship except between a husband and wife in marriage (Matthew 19:4-6) — involves you becoming one flesh with the other person. Sexual intimacy is more than just a physical activity: it is an act of knowing, serving, and being united with another person. Keeping yourself sexually pure shows your appreciation for the price by which you are redeemed from your sin. So please, recognize the importance of being holy in your relationship with others — not just to honor Me, but also to guard your own heart and body. As Paul writes below, he emphasizes the importance of your heart and your body: Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God! Like the Corinthians, you live in a time when holiness in regard to your intimate relationships is not understood or is ignored. This situation breaks My heart for you because I know the confusion, heartache, and abuse that immoral behavior has unleashed into your world. Something made to bring you joy, love, and security has become common and a source of hurt. My call to you for holiness and purity is for your protection and blessing, not for your limitation. Paul said it well: The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body. So please take these words from Paul very seriously as My call to your heart for your good as My disciple. Regardless of what you once WERE, don’t let sinful sexual relations creep in and pull you away from the person you ARE now! Verses to Live Notice that Paul twice refers to the fact that some of the Corinthians were justifying their sinful sexual activities by saying “For me, all things are permitted.” There are people in your time who use the same ungodly reasoning. Don’t allow yourself to be one of those people. My teaching is clear: Sex outside of marriage is sinful. Paul points out that you are to be holy and pure because “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit”. If that is not enough motivation for you, notice that he also says “A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God’s coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality…” Do you need reminding that the unjust have no share in the blessings of the kingdom of God? Do not be misled. A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God’s coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual deviancy, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling. Some of you used to live in these ways, but you are different now; you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God. I can hear some of you saying, “For me, all things are permitted.” But face the facts: all things are not beneficial. So you say, “For me, all things are permitted.” Here’s my response: I will not allow anything to control me. Another chimes in: “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” I suppose so, but a day will come when God will dispense with both food and the stomach. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body. God has raised the Lord Jesus from death, but He won’t stop there. His dynamic power will raise us up from the grips of death as well. Don’t you realize that your bodies are members of the Anointed One? So should I take the members of the Anointed One and unite them to a prostitute? This illicit union should never take place! Don’t you understand that when your body is joined with a prostitute, the two of you have become one body? For as it says, “The two come together as one flesh.” But when you are joined with the Lord, you become one spirit with Him. Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have
02 Aug 2024
For Moses it all started with being connected to God. The next step was accepting to do His will. Once he got to that point, he did not know how to proceed. God basically started by using what Moses had. He empowered him. I don’t think Moses had a clue about what God could do using a staff for example. May the Lord keep amazing us with His infinite wisdom and power. Exodus 4:1-5.
Daily Prayer for August 2
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, NIV Father in heaven, we thank you that we may feel your leading, your lordship, for you have blessed us with every spiritual and heavenly gift in Christ. We thank you that we may be among those who receive true life always anew, who praise and glorify you, exulting even in difficult days. For it is just in the difficult days that we need to belong to those who are thankful and joyful, who always find new certainty in their lives. With them may we experience the good you give on earth so that humankind may be blest and come at last into your hands. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now
Today’s Verse – Psalm 8:1
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. —Psalm 8:1 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… At first glance, these two concepts — majestic in all the Earth and glory above the heavens — may seem to be contradictory or at least disconnected. On the one hand, God’s name is majestic in this plain ol’ transitory space we call Earth. At the same time, however, God is glorious and above the highest heavens. This collision of different worlds is displayed in the life of Israel. It is made clear in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It will be made glorious clear in us, who will one day share in the glory of the heavens because we have boldly declared the majesty of our LORD God on Earth! My Prayer… Thank you, dear Father, for Jesus’ promise that if I honor you and confess him on this earth, you will gladly honor me and call my name in the presence of your angels when the time comes for me to stand before your throne. In Jesus’ name, I thank and praise you. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Wouldn’t It Be Better?
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Today’s verses are from 1 Corinthians. Paul had begun to address the sin and division damaging the holiness and fellowship in the house churches in Corinth. In yesterday’s verses, he wrote about dealing with the problems of illicit sexual relations and the Christians’ boasting about their open-mindedness at allowing it to go on in their fellowship. In today’s verses, Paul addresses the problem of lawsuits that believers were bringing against each other before unbelievers. He emphasizes the embarrassment that such lawsuits were bringing on My spiritual family due to the way that outsiders viewed the church. Paul tells the Christians why they should prefer to be “ripped off or defrauded” by a fellow believer rather than go to court before unbelievers. He makes some important points about why there shouldn’t be lawsuits between Christians: Any disagreement believers cannot settle between themselves should be decided by using wise believers in the church family to resolve the issue. Christians should have more wisdom and better values on which to make such a decision. After all, the Father will have Christians judge “heavenly messengers” or angels at the end of time. Going to unbelievers to decide a legal matter is an embarrassment to the church. This legal action also places Christians under the authority of those “who have no allegiance to” Me or to My standards of morality and integrity. The ultimate question you face in these matters is really pretty simple. Are you seeking My kingdom and My righteousness (Matthew 6:33) or are you trying to store up treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19-21)? When a person’s heart is more concerned about keeping what he or she has than it is about the good of My kingdom, then that person is living in darkness, and My following words of warning are relevant: The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is clouded or evil, then your body will be filled with evil and dark clouds. And the darkness that takes over the body of a child of God who has gone astray — that is the deepest, darkest darkness there is. (Matthew 6:22-23) I want to encourage you, as Paul does, to find a way to solve your differences and not go to court (Luke 12:57-59). Paul said it well: The truth is that these public lawsuits cause all of you to lose and lose big. Wouldn’t it be better to be ripped off or defrauded? If you cannot work out a disagreement between yourselves, seek the help of wise brothers and sisters in Christ to help you come to a fair understanding (Matthew 18:16). Remember that there are more important things than your getting what you believe is fair in such matters. One of those more important things is the reputation of the Christian community among unbelievers, and another is not placing yourself under the authority of someone who does not live by My values of truth, honesty, and integrity. Verses to Live There are times when brothers and sisters in Christ disagree, disappoint each other, or even sin against each other. To help resolve these disputes, seek the wisdom of wise believers. Don’t go to court with each other before unbelievers and embarrass the church! Here’s another troubling issue. If you have a grievance against another follower of Jesus, do you have the audacity to bring that brother or sister into the civil courts rather than submitting yourselves to the authority of God’s people? Don’t you know that His people are destined to judge the world? If you have the authority to judge the world, can’t you handle these small matters and render a better judgment than the civil courts? Further, don’t you know that we are destined to judge the heavenly messengers? So if we are to exercise authority in the heavenly realms, can’t we take care of the conflicts that arise in this life? To put it another way, if you are asking the courts to adjudicate your mundane conflicts, aren’t you placing your problems under the authority of judges who have no standing within the church? My words should embarrass you. Is it possible that you have no one among you with the wisdom to mediate between two siblings? So one brother sues another brother in public and drags the dispute before outsiders who have no allegiance to Jesus? The truth is that these public lawsuits cause all of you to lose and lose big. Wouldn’t it be better to be ripped off or defrauded? In fact, you are guilty of ripping off and defrauding your own brothers and sisters, not the other way around. (1 Corinthians 6:1-8) Response in Prayer Father, help me as I work on my heart to love You, Your people, and the reputation of Your people. I want to care about the reputation of Your people in the eyes of the world more than I love myself and my stuff. Help me, please dear Lord, for the world pulls at my heart. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
01 Aug 2024
Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the others God used were malleable. They had weaknesses, but were willing to conform to God’s will. God made provision for them to thrive because He wanted to accomplish His purposes. May we find favour before God. Exodus 3:11-22.
Daily Prayer for August 1
However, as the scripture says, “What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.” But it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9–10a, TEV Lord our God, bless us all through your Spirit, that we may find certainty of heart in community with you under your rulership. May we keep this certainty, whatever course our lives may take, whatever battles and suffering may come to us, for we belong to you and you rule and guide us as your children. Watch over all who are still far away from you but who long for you. Watch over all who are good-hearted and sincere, even if they often do not understand you. Protect them, and let your kingdom come so that your will is carried out more and more by the many who feel compelled to seek for you and for the goodness and truth which are your will. May we and many others serve you with our whole lives. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now Eating Anything Caleb Coy We were good American industrial eaters – until Dad started dying. Both of us have come a long way since then. Read now
Today’s Verse – 1 Corinthians 7:31
For this world in its present form is passing away. —1 Corinthians 7:31 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… This often repeated theme in the New Testament is from Jesus’s lips and taught again by the apostle Paul. It should be a great reminder to us that we shouldn’t spend our lives working for what is only temporary. We must invest in Jesus and his Kingdom, for all other kingdoms, structures, nations, and powers will ultimately pass away and be gone forever. Only what we invest in Jesus and his Kingdom will endure! My Prayer… LORD God Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Eternal I Am, we thank you for being what everything else in the world cannot be. Please awaken our hearts to things of eternal significance and open our eyes to see through the transitory things that are so often alluring to us. In Jesus’ name, we pray and ask for this help. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.